I came across this blog entry by Jim Estill, in which he lists a series of what he thought were the best interview questions for hiring a new employee. The full list of questions can be viewed on his blog.
As you can see from the lists of questions, there are both situational interview and behavioural interview questions. Situational interview questions help to predict future behavior with questions on how they would react in given situations. Behavioural interview questions are used to determine past behavior. These questions are aimed to see how the candidate has reacted in previous situations.
It is best to have a combination of both situational and behavioural interview questions to ensure you are getting as much relevant information about the candidate as you can, to help you effectively determine the best person for the job.
After reading over the questions, I thought that expanding on how to conduct a successful interview would be an interesting topic to discuss. We will publishing a series of blog entries outlining the steps you should consider in the interviewing process.
To start off, let’s go over why companies use interviews. Interviews are used by companies to determine who the best applicant for the job is. Interviews are typically considered to be the most important component of the selection process.
The objectives for the interview are to:
- Assess the qualifications of the applicant
- Observe important aspects of the applicant’s behavior (i.e. verbal communication skills, degree of self confidence, interpersonal skills, etc.)
- Provide information about position (i.e. duties, responsibilities, etc.)
- Promote the organization
- Determine how well the applicant will fit in with the organization
After conducting all the interviews, the interviewer should be able to select who is the most suitable person for the job.
Now that you know what you should get out of an interview, you need to decide the type of interview structure you want to adopt.
At one end of the spectrum, there is the unstructured interview. This is a more conversational style and questions are asked as they come to mind. The topics of discussion for the interview are developed from the previous responses to questions. Every interview has different questions for each person, and as a result, unstructured interviews are low in reliability and validity.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the structured interview. These interviews have predetermined questions and acceptable responses which are based on the job description and specifications. Every candidate is asked the exact same questions in the same order, and their responses are rated based on appropriateness. Structured interviews are high in validity and reliability, but the feel of the interviews can be very mechanical.
In the middle is the mixed (semi-structured) interview, which is a combination of the two extremes. Mixed interviews have structured questions, as well as job related or candidate specific question based on their application form and resume. From personal preference I believe that mixed interviews are the most effective, because candidates can be equally compared, while there is still a conversational feel to the interview.
The type of interview structure varies from organization to organization, depending on the type of job, person or organization; once we have established the goal and structure of the interview, we can move on to the next step. Join us next Wednesday, September 7, for part two of how to conduct a successful interview – Things to Keep in Mind while Conducting an Interview.
